To be shocked at how dystopian going shopping feels now?

[GratefulLove]

Today I went shopping in my town centre for the first time since early March. I just could not process how different it all is now. Last time I was in town I remember picking up a box of paracetamol and some hand sanitiser in Boots "just in case" but aside from that it all felt normal albeit a little like the calm before the storm.

Today though. Hand sanitiser everywhere, one-way systems, floor markings. Obviously I knew all this existed from social media and the news but seeing my town, my familiar town so completely different has floored me in a way I didn't expect. Shops selling hand sanitiser and masks - I expected this in Boots and other pharmacies but I didn't expect Primark to have rows and rows of hand sanitiser by the tills. I didn't expect shopping to feel so clinical, it felt like a hospital visit.

I was in one shop and there were a group of young children playing and joking around with each other. They did not have masks on and seeing them playing around just looked so normal and then I looked around and saw all the adults with masks just looking expressionless and almost soulless. It just looked so frightening.

We are months into this pandemic and I still can't believe this is all real. It still feels like a film. I don't know, with the daily conferences now a thing of the past and headlines now involving more topics than just the coronavirus it kind of felt like things were slowly getting back to normal but this really cemented that they are nowhere near normal.

Also I just want to say how much I appreciate all retail workers.

Also things can look dystopian without it being a literal dystopia. I once went to a job interview at John Radcliffe Hospital, got a bus through a really dystopian looking area even though there was no totalitarian government in power that day

BoxhillBertha

Same. I can't believe how much crap I used to waste my money on. Haven't missed it at all. I've only been in to the local shops for essentials since easing. I don't want to get back to normal. I'm saving so much money.

Where I live in Wales I would say I've seen less than 25% of people wearing masks when I'm out and about.

I’m glad it feels and looks different - maybe people will remember that we are still at risk from this virus and continue to behave accordingly rather than pretending it’s all over and we can do whatever we like with no consequences to our own or other people’s health.

@Inkpaperstars

I don't actually find people look faceless and expressionless in masks. You can still see their eyes. I'm learning to smile hello with my eyebrows now.

It is bizarre to look back on what we used to take for granted, I suppose.

Flight attendants are going to have to actually smile now instead of just baring their teeth

Disclaimer: two close friends are BA cabin crew - it's been discussed.

I found it very strange when the shops first opened a few weeks ago. But yesterday I went to my local town centre and it felt almost back to normal. Most of the shops are open again and one way systems either gone or optional. Shops busy. All the chain restaurants that were still closed a week ago - Zizzi, Pizza Express, Nando's etc have reopened and were buzzing due to the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.

It seems to have changed hugely in the last couple of weeks. It's only the mask wearing that feels odd.

Meh it's better than what it was. All those queues were a pain in the arse.

I have not and have never got the shopping for pleasure thing though that people like doing. I like that the wandering around blocking aisles has practically stopped. Get in, get your shit and get out. The way it should be

My local town is fairly busy and I'm comfortable browsing (charity shops are open now!). I've been to my local pub a few times which isn't something I'd normally do, and am going to the local cinema next week. I do not want to lose them.
I'm so glad I've had to go out throughout lockdown. I was really anxious the first couple of weeks, but was more relaxed after that, and I've just seen things getting better from my point of view.

Shopping here just feels normal apart from most people are wearing a mask. Definitely not dystopian.

I absolutely agree @GratefulLove

There is no joy in it. Having said that, so far, I’ve only done necessary food shopping but yesterday I went to a local shopping area. I had to collect shoes for my son. It was dreadful. The shop assistant looked so hacked off as she couldn’t find the order despite showing her the alert text with number. It’s arriving today instead by DPD. I think that’s how I’ll do it in future. Went in M&S for undies. Empty shelves. No testers (I used to like a bit of a mooch in their beauty but).

It’s all alien and I thought, another 6 months of this, the shops will close. Apart from food and necessities. Cafes had people sat outside. Didn’t look much fun to me.

I came home hot, sweaty, a bit drained and in an irritated mood. No pleasure at all.

I fear for retail jobs.. Online shopping is the norm for so many now.
It is depressing, going into town these days.

Gosh, I think it was much worse during lockdown. Things were eerily quiet yet there were still long queues for the shops that were open. If you forgot something on one of the aisles in Tesco, you had to navigate back round the one way system.

Now my local high street seems busier than ever, possibly because we are a commuter town and lots of people are still WFH. People are generally very compliant with mask-wearing, although I notice they do seem to take them off between shops then put them on again, which seems a bit pointless. I was in France a couple of weeks ago and people were just wearing them in the shopping streets there's even though they have the same indoors-only rule as here.

I agree with you. We went out for a meal recently, we were the only people there for most of it. It felt so werid. We wondered how that pub is ever going to survive.

It’s better than it was in April. Food shopping is pretty much back to normal. Not had to queue for a few weeks now to get in.

No more bare shelves- you can always get what you need.

No more waiting in huge queues to pay for shopping being told which isle to wait at.

I’m so please...

I know what you mean @GratefulLove it is a strange world at present.

Some people don't mind seeing everyone in masks, some people miss the smiling faces, the faces that show emotion, happiness and yes looking at a person in a mask without the mouth and nose visible is odd.

It has become very normal to many and I imagine it is down to how often you are out and about wearing a mask... it quickly becomes the normal

The empty shelves frightened me in the beginning.
I haven't got a freezer, so had no way of ''panic buying''.
Not being able to buy flour in any form...
Plus atrocious price gouging on hand gel...At least it is everywhere now.

I paid £5 for 100ml from local pharmacy, which was nuts.

I don't want to get back to normal. I'm saving so much money.

That'll change when the full brunt of the recesson hits. Lucky you though to be saving money, we've lost an amount I can't even think about.

Can't see the problem tbh and suspect there's a bit of overdramatising going on.
Our local town which is grim on the best of days, was pretty busy.
Most of the shop assistants were cheerful and friendly, more so than usual actually. M and S was quiet but the cafe was doing quite a bit of business. I feel quite saddened that people are saying they are going to shop online more because the real life experience is so dispiriting - maybe think of the retailer workers who'll lose their jobs because shoppers can't 'cope' with masks or don't like the 'atmosphere'. It's shopping fgs and a temporary inconvenience. All sounds a bit tantrumy.
I had to visit A/E last night and it was teeming. Spoke to staff there and they reckon their regulars are back, it's pretty much business as usual, albeit without the typical family groups on a picnic scenarios

I was about to say that it's not that bad, but if you haven't been out in months, I suppose it is a bit of a shock. The mask isn't as bad as I thought, but if you decide to go shopping for the first time during a heatwave it's not going to be the most pleasant experience, really.

I'm buying more online as I usually shop in London during my lunch break or after work. My local shops don't have that much on offer clothes wise, but I'm still going out and about and supporting local businesses more than I did previously.

The Blitz keeps coming up as a comparison. Having chatted to relatives who lived through the Blitz, people did complain! It wasn't all cheery 'oooh blimey, let's all skip down to the shelter and have a cuppa and a sing-song!'. People were scared and they grumbled, just like now.

I think the difference with the Blitz is that it was possible to have more face-to-face contact with people (although of course most people had family away fighting), but there wasn't the weirdness of having to distance, which can be quite isolating, especially for people living on their own at the moment.

Both times aren't great, both times lives were/are being lost, but I keep remembering that when they were in it, nobody knew how long the war would last. And that's the same with covid. When you're in the middle of something terrible, it feels like this will be reality forever. But it won't. And hopefully we won't have to cope with this as long as they did, going through the war.

I hate shopping, don't get any pleasure or enjoyment out of it, never have, I go food shopping because we have to eat. Pretty much anything else I need is online. DD was here Friday, wanted to go shopping, went to local Town, in one shop, a great deal of teens,twenties not wearing masks, most people not socially distancing. Just anted a pair of denim shorts, couldn't get them, came home ordered them online, (and much cheaper) During lockdown I used local shops, paid a great deal more, but happy to help them keep afloat.

We went to buy school shoes from Clarke's yesterday so had to go into a shopping centre for the first time.

Clarke's was better than normal as a pre booked appointment meant no waiting but it was uncomfortable and sweaty wearing a mask and we were all glad to get out of there as quickly as possible.

I was concerned by how many people were not wearing masks or not wearing them properly, particularly large groups of teenagers but also a large proportion of adults too.

We don't really shop for fun but I would normally go to a couple of shops while we were out but there is no way I would browse any time soon.

I'm cautiously optimistic I might feel better about wearing a mask for long periods when it's cooler

People keep saying "it's temporary" and "it won't be forever". Does Boris know this? He has hardly said anything to reassure us that these measures will come to an end.

wanderings Are we negatively affected because of the Spanish flu? Bubonic plague?

There’s no need to catastrophise. It does nothing but make you stressed and anxious and then you spread your issues onto other people.

@Flaxmeadow

Also I just want to say how much I appreciate all retail workers.

I worked in retail up to the lockdown, but those who had to carry on, I honestly don't know how they did it. Bravo to them yes

Couldn't agree more. My relative has been at work in a shop all the way through, and he's just about had enough now. He's decided to leave at the end of this month, he can't stand it any more.